Inspired by the real-life Glico-Morinaga kidnapping, an unsolved case that terrorized Japan for two years, Lady Joker reimagines this watershed episode in modern Japanese history. Recommend ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The second half of the Lady Joker duology sees Japanese writer Kaoru Takamura’s magnum opus come to a close. Volume 2 picks up where the first ended, but despite the seamless continuation, readers might need some time to get back into Takamura’s distinctly dense prose and vast cast of characters.

Full review: https://westwordsreviews.wordpress.com/2023/02/17/lady-joker-volume-2-kaoru-takamura/

“‘Lady Joker’s on the move. They’ve demanded six hundred million in cash’ ‘Lady—what?’ … The assistant inspector repeated the English words. ‘Lady as in first lady. Then joker as in the trump card. Lady Joker. That’s what the crime group is calling themselves.’”

My thanks to John Murray Press U.K. Baskerville for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘Lady Joker Volume 2’ by Kaoru Takamura.

‘Lady Joker’ was originally published as ‘Redi jōkā’ in Japan in 1997 and translated from the Japanese by Marie Iida and Allison Markin Powell. Both volumes open with a handy Dramatis Personae.

It is best to think of ‘Lady Joker’ as a near 1,200 page novel that has been split into two parts. The second volume picks up where the first ended. As I noted in my review of Volume 1, it is quite a commitment.

It has a complex plot. Very briefly in 1990 a group of five men meet at a racetrack. They each have a grudge against the Hinode Beer Company and over the next few years they concoct an elaborate plan that involves kidnapping the Company’s president and extorting a significant amount of money from them. They name their group ‘Lady Joker’. The second volume opens in May 1995.

The story is inspired by the unsolved Glico-Morinaga kidnapping that took place in 1984. The narrative moves between the conspirators, the executives of the company, journalists, and the police.

‘Lady Joker’ is a slow burn, character driven novel with a focus on Japanese society, especially its complex corporate culture. I would categorise it as a blend of crime and literary fiction. Despite its length I found myself quickly drawn into its narrative.

Overall, ‘Lady Joker’ is a fascinating, multilayered novel that clearly deserves its designation as a modern classic of Japanese literature. It’s wonderful that it has now been made available to English readers.

Last year I read Lady Joker Volume 1 by Kaoru Takamura, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Volume 2 picks up where President and CEO of Hinode Beer, Kyosuke Shiroyama, is returned after his kidnapping. Both the police and press are trying to learn as much as possible from him about the kidnappers and their demands. They are also investigating the history and structure of the corporation and its murkier links to syndicates and corruption. The police provide Shiroyama with a plain clothes ‘bodyguard’ to monitor the comings and goings at the Hinode Beer corporation. The press put Shiroyama under constant surveillance. Despite Shiroyama being monitored so closely by the police and press, the Lady Joker extortionists are able to communicate their demands and threats to Shiroyama. I really got a sense of how boxed in and under pressure Shiroyama was.

This is a must-read for fans of Japanese crime thrillers and also the recent TV adaptation of Tokyo Vice.

I lived in in Tokyo for five years in the early noughties and recognised the Tokyo neighbourhoods. I also have an understanding of Japanese corporate culture, corruption, corporate corruption and organised crime in Japan.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and the publishers John Murray Press for making the ARC available to me for a fair and honest review.